ACAPULCO, Mexico: Third-seeded John Isner became the first upset of the Mexican Open, losing 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5) to Croatia's Ivo Karlovic in the first round Tuesday.
Karlovic served 15 aces and Isner fired eight in a matchup between two of the game's biggest servers that was decided by a record-equaling eight consecutive tie-breaks..
"I am very disappointed, obviously," a visibly upset Isner said after the match. "I wanted to do well in here, is a good surface for me, but I played against a guy who played well against me".
The 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Karlovic now has a 3-2 career record against the 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) Isner, who is ranked 13th in the world.
Joao Sousa of Portugal came back to defeat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to a second-round encounter against the winner of the later match between Andy Murray and Pablo Andujar.
South Africa's Kevin Anderson downed Stephane Robert of France 6-2 , 7-6 (7) and will next play America's Sam Querrey, while Spaniard Feliciano Lopez had a 6-4, 6-2 victory over France's Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
On the women's side of the combined ATP-WTA tournament, top-seeded Dominika Cibulkova had a 6-3, 6-4 win over Urszula Radwanska, from Poland, and China's Shuai Zhang came back to beat Madison Keys of the United States 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
